west indies cricket tour of england 1966

Regional representation :

B - Barbados (9)

BG - British Guiana (4)

Ja - Jamaica (3)

T – Trinidad & Tobago (1)

The South American colony of British Guiana gained its independence on 26 May 1966 .

Average age of   team at time of first Test match

(2 June 1966) :

  30 yrs 1 month

Test Appearances made before the tour

Sobers 52,   Kanhai 43,   Hunte 36,   Hall 33,   Solomon 27,   Gibbs 26,   Butcher 20,   Griffth 11,   McMorris 11,   Nurse 9,   Hendricks 5,   Allan 3,   Carew 2,   Lashley 2,   Brancker 0,   Cohan 0,   Holford 0.

Tour Officials

Gerry Gomez ( chairman - Trinidad ),     Allan Rae (Jamaica),   John Goddard (Barbados),   Frank Worrell,   Berkeley Gaskin (Guyana),   with Gary Sobers (captain)   and   Jeffrey Stollmeyer (manager)   present.

In December 1965 the selectors named eight of their professionals to tour:   Sobers, Kanhai, Griffith, King (who later withdrew), Hall, Hunte, Butcher, Nurse, They were forced to make these early nominations in the team because several West Indians played in the English Leagues.

Unavailable :   Deryck Murray (place at Cambridge University ).

Tour Party Announced :   9 March 1966

Withdrawal :   Lester King (because of an operation on his knee cartilage).   Cohen replaced him.

Not selected : Sobers wrote how Stollmeyer was chairman with the casting vote, and how McMorris was picked ahead of Bynoe, and Brancker ahead of Lloyd through political manoevring.   Trevor McDonald wrote “Sobers, who had seen and applauded Lloyd’s century only days before the team for England was chosen, was to comment that Lloyd’s omission from the 1966 touring party had been one of the graver errors made by the West Indian Board.” (Lloyd’s 1985 biography)

Time between selection and departure from West Indies

  38 days

  (9 March - 16 April)

Travel   

Kingston / Port of Spain   Q New York Q London Heathrow

Manager Jeff Stollmeyer flew out of Trinidad with Carew, Solomon and Butcher on 16 April 1966. They proceeded to New York with the Barbadians and assistant manager Hoyos. There they met up with Gibbs.

Cohen, McMorris and Hendriks from Kingston , Jamaica , went to London on a different flight.   Kanhai was already in London . Hall had flown to England from a winter's cricket with the Sydney grade club, Randwick .

The team arrived at Heathrow on 17 April and the press conference began with Gary Sobers being presented with the new Wisden Trophy which was created to mark their tour in 1963 coinciding with the 100th publication of the Wisden’s Cricketers' Almanack.

Time spent in England

    150 days

(17 April - 14 September )

On-tour selection panel

Gary Sobers (captain) ,     Conrad Hunte (vice-captain) ,     Wes Hall,     Lance Gibbs   and   Rohan Kanhai.

Reinforcements

None.   Hendriks missed the first two Test matches through a hand injury

Fixtures/Results

† not first-class

Time spent in England before First Test:      46 days

(17 April - 2 June)

Time from end of final Test until departure from England

   38 days

(22 August - 14 September)

Test appearances on tour

5   -     Butcher,   Gibbs,   Griffith,   Hall,   Holford,   Hunte,   Kanhai,   Nurse,   Sobers.

3   -   Hendriks

2   -   Allan,   Lashley,   McMorris

1 -    Carew

0 -     Cohan,   Solomon.

•     Gary Sobers was the outstanding player with three huge centuries: 161 at Old Trafford, 163 not out at Lord’s and 174 at Headingley.   He ended the series with 722 runs, at an average of more than 100.

•    Sobers also took 20 wickets in the Test matches, as well as most wickets on the tour (60).

•    In the Lord’s Test Sobers put on 274 for the sixth wicket with his cousin David Holford (105).

•     Gary Sobers (174) and Seymour Nurse (137) shared a record 5th wicket partnership of 265 at Headingley

•    At Old Trafford Gibbs repeated his 1963 performance of ten in the match by taking 5-37 and 5-69

•    Basil Butcher’s unbeaten 209 at Trent Bridge included three consecutive century stands with his partners.

•     Lance Gibbs took 6 wickets for 39 as England collapsed in the fourth Test at Headingley.

•     West Indies drew with Gloucestershire, the scores being level on the last ball.

Tour Summary

Return to West Indies

London   Q   Seawell , Barbados

The team flew from London Airport on 14 September 1966.

The manager, assistant and eleven players went from Heathrow Airport to Seawell Airport but six of the team did not fly back with them: Kanhai, Hall and Hunte stayed in England and flew directly to the Indian tour.   Solomon enrolled on a cricket coaching course.   Griffith went on a holiday to Canada .   McMorris joined his family in the United States .

Time away from West Indies

    152 days  

  (16 April to 15 September)

The tour made a profit of £15 000, half the amount earned in 1963.

Published accounts of the tour

"Everything that's Cricket"     by John Clarke & Brian Scovell [Stanley Paul, 1966)

“There was an obvious anomaly in the quantum of fees and allowances paid to our players… Gary Sobers was receiving the same amount of basic pay as, for example, Rudi Cohen, our reserve fast bowler who played least on the tour and had failed to gain selection in a Test match. This was palpably absurd.   Players were categorised in future on the number of Test matches previously played.”   Jeffrey Stollmeyer Everything Under the Sun (1983)

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Sussex Cricket Museum

Sussex v West Indies

An unexpected victory in 1966, sobers, hunte, kanhai et al.

In 1966, with the nation’s attention firmly fixed on the World Cup football, the West Indies cricket team returned to England just three years after its successful tour of 1963, and brought with them twelve of that side. Their batting line-up was truly impressive, led by captain Garfield (Garry) Sobers and vice-captain Conrad Hunte, and also including Rohan Kanhai, Seymour Nurse, Basil Butcher, Joey Carew, wicketkeeper Jackie Hendriks and all-rounder David Holford. With fast bowlers Wes Hall and Charlie Griffith, and spinner Lance Gibbs this was a side that was going to be difficult for England to beat.

West Indies won the First Test match at Old Trafford quite convincingly, by an innings and 40 runs in just three days – the first time England had lost in three days since 1938. Hunte had hit 135 in five hours on the first day, followed by  Sobers scoring 161 in 244 minutes. The only England batsmen to put up any kind of resistance in their second innings were Milburn (94) and Cowdrey (69), as Gibbs and Sobers bowled England out for 277 with Gibbs finishing with match figures of 10 for 106.

West Indies’ next match was a draw against Gloucestershire in Bristol with West Indies needing twelve off the last over to win. Although they scored eleven off the first five balls, Holford was bowled off the last ball of the day, leaving the scores level. West Indies then had to travel down to Hove for the three day match due to start the next (Saturday) morning, June 11. Sussex at the time were regarded as a ‘One-Day’ side having won the 1963 and 1964 Gillette cups. The side did have a number of Test players at the time in Jim Parks, John Snow and Alan Oakman although they were missing Ted Dexter, who was out for the season after breaking his leg in a car crash. For this match Sussex was to be captained by the Nawab of Pataudi, then also the captain of India.

A sea breeze and a grassy pitch

Pataudi won the toss and decided to put West Indies in to bat. There was a sea breeze and a bit of grass on the pitch but even so this was a decision criticised by many of the watching members, who now expected a run feast. By the middle of the afternoon though, the captain’s decision seemed to  have been justified as West Indies was bowled out for just 123 with only Carew, Nurse and Butcher reaching double figures. Sobers was caught by Parks off the bowling of Bates for a duck, but it was Snow who did all the damage, taking seven wickets for 29, and earning a call-up for the Third Test at Trent Bridge.

Sussex opened their innings before tea and soon were reduced to two for two with both openers, Suttle and Lenham, out without scoring. The captain, in the face of some aggressive bowling by Griffith in particular,  attempted to hold the innings together but the middle order collapsed with Sussex at six for forty. A spirited fight back by Peter Graves and Alan Oakman, batting at eight, left Sussex on seven for 122 overnight.

On the Monday, Graves (64)  and Buss (21) helped take Sussex to a first innings score of 185, a lead of 62, with Griffith and Cohen taking all of the wickets (Wesley Hall, Griffith’s usual bowling partner, had been rested). West Indies’ second innings was quite incredible with only two players, Solomon (17) and Lashley (14), making double figures. It was Snow again who did the damage getting another four wickets along with four also from Buss as West Indies collapsed to just 67 – the second worst total ever recorded by a West Indies side in England.

Suttle taken to hospital

Sussex needed just six runs to secure an unlikely victory, but the opening batsmen had to face a fired-up Griffith, who seemed to want to take out his anger at his own team’s performance on the Sussex batsmen. For his first over Griffith had all the fielders behind the batsman, Ken Suttle. The first ball was short pitched and hit Suttle on the jaw. He was taken to hospital for a precautionary X-ray, which showed up just bruising. In his column for the local Worthing newspaper, Suttle said of the delivery that “He wasn’t as fast as he was on the 1963 tour. The last time he hit me before I had time to deliver the shot. This time he hit me after I had finished it ”.

The highlight of the season

Following Suttle’s retirement Graves came in and was quickly out lbw to Griffith without scoring, but Lenham and Parks steered Sussex to victory. The victory might have been the prelude to a successful season but this was not to happen. Sussex did manage to beat some of the top sides that season including winners Yorkshire and runners-up Worcestershire, however just eight victories in thirty games saw Sussex struggle in all competitions. Victory over the 1966 West Indians was a highlight for Sussex cricket in the later 1960s.

For details of the scorecard, click here

• England vs West Indies Test Series 1966

England vs West Indies 3rd Test Match 1966

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Cricket West Indies appoint three women to board of directors

• ESPNcricinfo staff

CWI has appointed three women to the board as independent directors, for a one-year period ending in March 2025. Diann Campbell and Louise Victor-Frederick have joined as new appointees, while Debra Coryat-Patton, who served in the role from 2019 to 2021, returns.

Campell is a distinguished Jamaican cricket administrator with nearly three decades of experience. A board release said that "her expertise in cricket administration, corporate governance, and organisational development will greatly benefit CWI's strategic initiatives".

Victor-Frederick is a seasoned branding and communications strategist from Saint Lucia. Coryat-Patton, will bring "invaluable legal expertise to the CWI Board," the release said.

In addition to these appointments, Barbadian entrepreneur Hallam Nichols has been reappointed as an independent director, and he also serves on the CWI stakeholders relations committee.

"Since the beginning, I've advocated for diversity and inclusion within CWI to ensure fairness both on and off the field," CWI President Kishore Shallow said. "This appointment is a natural progression of our ongoing commitment."

"Their diverse backgrounds, extensive experience, and unwavering commitment to excellence will undoubtedly strengthen our organization and contribute to the advancement of cricket in the West Indies."

Shallow also thanked the outgoing independent directors: "I wish to express gratitude to Manniram Prashad and Gail Mathurin for their contributions and service to West Indies Cricket. We anticipate their continued involvement and impact in other capacities."

West Indian cricket team in England in 1966

The West Indies cricket team toured England in the 1966 season to play a five-match Test series against England . West Indies won the series 3–1 with one match drawn.

The tour was arranged at shorter notice than usual following the big success of the 1963 tour , with touring teams from New Zealand and South Africa "doubling up" in the 1965 season so that the West Indies could be brought back sooner than scheduled.

• 1 The West Indies team
• 2.1 First Test at Old Trafford, 2–4 June 1966
• 2.2 Second Test at Lord's, 16–21 June 1966
• 2.3 Third Test at Trent Bridge, 30 June–5 July 1966
• 2.4 Fourth Test at Headingley, 4–8 August 1966
• 2.5 Fifth Test at The Oval, 18–22 August 1966
• 3 Other matches
• 5 References
• 6 External links

The West Indies team

The touring team was captained by Gary Sobers , with Conrad Hunte as the vice-captain. The team manager was the former West Indies Test captain Jeffrey Stollmeyer . The full side was:

• Gary Sobers , captain
• Conrad Hunte , vice-captain
• David Allan
• Rawle Brancker
• Basil Butcher
• Rudolph Cohen
• Lance Gibbs
• Charlie Griffith
• Jackie Hendriks
• David Holford
• Rohan Kanhai
• Peter Lashley
• Easton McMorris
• Seymour Nurse
• Joe Solomon

Twelve of the team had toured England on the 1963 tour. The newcomers were Brancker, Cohen, Hendriks, Holford and Lashley, and only Brancker, Cohen and Holford had not played Test cricket before the tour. Holford played in all five Tests on the tour but Brancker and Cohen did not appear in the Test series and never won a Test cap.

Test series summary

First test at old trafford , 2–4 june 1966.

• West Indies won the toss and elected to bat.
• The match was scheduled for five days but completed in three.
• C Milburn (ENG), and DAJ Holford (WIN) made their Test debuts.

England's first three-day defeat since 1938 came about through dominant batting by the West Indies' captain and vice-captain, followed up by high quality spin on a receptive pitch. Hunte hit 135 out of 283 in five hours on the first day, and then Sobers took over with 161 in 248 minutes. England dropped several catches, including both century-makers, and of the bowlers only Fred Titmus , with five for 83, emerged with credit. England started badly, with Colin Milburn run out for a duck in his first Test innings, and only a late stand between Jim Parks and David Allen lasted long against the spin of Gibbs (5-37) and Holford (3-34 on his debut). In the follow-on, Milburn made a quick 94 with sixes off Hall and Gibbs, but of the other batsmen only Colin Cowdrey (69) coped with the spin of Gibbs and Sobers. Gibbs finished with five for 69, taking his match figures to 10 for 106. [1]

Second Test at Lord's , 16–21 June 1966

• 19 June was taken as a rest day.
• BL D'Oliveira (ENG) made his Test debut.

One of the great partnerships of Test cricket took the match away from England after they appeared to be on the way to a straightforward victory. Sobers and Holford came together with West Indies just nine runs ahead with five second innings wickets down. In 320 minutes, they put on an unbeaten 274, with Sobers making 163 and Holford, in just his second Test, 105. Earlier sound batting by Butcher, Nurse and Sobers in West Indies's first innings middle order enabled a respectable total despite Higgs' six wickets for 91. England's reply relied on 96 from Tom Graveney , 91 from Jim Parks and 60 from Geoffrey Boycott . Basil D'Oliveira , in his first Test, was unluckily run out when a shot from Parks deflected on to the stumps at the bowler's end and Hall pulled a stump out. After Sobers' second innings declaration, England lost four quick wickets, but Milburn, in his second Test also, hit an unbeaten 126 and he and Graveney saw out time. [2]

Third Test at Trent Bridge , 30 June–5 July 1966

• 3 July was taken as a rest day.
• DL Underwood (ENG) made his Test debut.

As at Lord's, West Indies displayed second innings resilience in the face of a deficit, and this time took it through to victory. This time the hero was Butcher, whose unbeaten 209 was stretched across three consecutive century partnerships – 110 with Kanhai (63), 107 with Nurse (53) and then 173 with Sobers (94). Earlier, Nurse with 93 had alone offered forceful resistance in a first innings dominated by pace, though Lashley made a stubborn 49. England's lead was due largely to three players: Graveney (109) and Cowdrey (96) put on 169 after three wickets had gone for 13, and then D'Oliveira made 76 to shepherd the tail to a 90-run lead, sharing a last-wicket stand of 65 with Derek Underwood , who was making his debut. Sobers' declaration left England more than a full day to survive, and though Boycott made 71, including a six off Sobers, and D'Oliveira 54, the match ended with 85 minutes to spare. [3]

Fourth Test at Headingley , 4–8 August 1966

• 7 August was taken as a rest day.
• The match was scheduled for five days but completed in four.

An overwhelming victory with more than a day to spare was built on a fifth wicket stand of 265 between Nurse, who made 137, and Sobers (174). England suffered from the West Indian pace attack – in Milburn's case literally so, for he was forced to retire hurt after a blow to the elbow. Not until D'Oliveira (88) and Higgs (49) came together at 83 for six was there resistance, and Sobers took five for 41. It was a similar story in the follow-on, with Bob Barber reaching 55 but otherwise only the injured Milburn passing 40. Gibbs took six for 39 and Sobers, mostly bowling spin, a further three to finish with match figures of eight for 80 to go with his 174. [4]

Fifth Test at The Oval , 18–22 August 1966

• 21 August was taken as a rest day.
• DL Amiss (ENG) made his Test debut.

Wholesale changes to the England side, including a new captain in Brian Close , led to a smarter bowling and fielding performance, but England's victory was based on surprise batting contributions from lower order players. West Indies won the toss for the fifth time, but only Kanhai, with 104, and Sobers (81) prospered against a varied attack. England in turn slumped to 166 for seven before wicket-keeper John Murray joined Graveney. Together they put on 217 for the eighth wicket, with Graveney hitting 165 and Murray's 112 more than doubling his previous Test best. The ninth wicket fell at 399, but Higgs and Snow then scored maiden first-class 50s in a last wicket stand of 128, two short of the-then Test record. Butcher made a quick 60, but Sobers was out for a duck and though Nurse made 70, West Indies were all out with more than a day-and-a-half to spare. [5]

Other matches

The West Indians played 22 other first-class matches in addition to the Tests, winning five, losing three and drawing 14. Their wins were against Cambridge University , Derbyshire , Kent , Warwickshire and Leicestershire . They lost to Sussex , Northamptonshire and T. N. Pearce's XI . Including the Tests, their record was eight wins, four defeats and 15 draws. They also played six one-day matches and one two-day match, which were not first-class; of these they won five, lost one and drew one. [6]

• Playfair Cricket Annual , 1967 edition
• Wisden Cricketers' Almanack , 1967 edition
• ^ "West Indies in England, 1966". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (1967 ed.). Wisden . p. 297.
• ^ "West Indies in England, 1966". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (1967 ed.). Wisden . p. 301.
• ^ "West Indies in England, 1966". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (1967 ed.). Wisden . p. 310.
• ^ "West Indies in England, 1966". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (1967 ed.). Wisden . p. 314.
• ^ "West Indies in England, 1966". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (1967 ed.). Wisden . p. 282.

External links

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• Articles with short description
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• Pages containing links to subscription-only content
• 1966 in English cricket
• 1966 in West Indian cricket
• June 1966 sports events in the United Kingdom
• July 1966 sports events in the United Kingdom
• August 1966 sports events in the United Kingdom
• International cricket competitions from 1960–61 to 1970
• West Indian cricket tours of England

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West Indies A to tour Nepal for five T20s in April-May

• ESPNcricinfo staff

A West Indies 'A' side will tour Nepal for five T20 games as part of an A team tour in April-May to help both sides prepare for the upcoming T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and the USA in June. It will be the first time that a West Indies side will tour Nepal.

All five games will be played at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur starting at 1pm local time, on April 27, 28, May 1, 2 and 4.

"This A-team tour is another indication of the importance we are placing on A-team cricket and a significant phase in our preparations for the T20 World Cup," Miles Bascombe, CWI director of cricket, said in a release. "It gives us a final opportunity to see many of the contenders for a place in the squad who are not participating in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Even for those players who do not make the final World Cup squad they will be a part of the reserve pool. A hallmark of the 2016 T20 World Cup campaign was the ability of reserve players to come in and have an immediate impact, so we must be ready for all eventualities. We also relish the opportunity to take the West Indies brand to Nepal for the first time, as cricket continues to grow in popularity there."

The only time West Indies and Nepal have played each other on the international stage was in an ODI during the World Cup Qualifiers in Harare in June last year. West Indies won that match by 101 runs after posting 339 for 7 with the help of centuries from Shai Hope and Nicholas Pooran.

"We are humbled and excited with the prospect of the West Indies 'A' team touring Nepal," CAN secretary Paras Khadka said. "This marks a significant moment in our cricketing history as we embrace this wonderful opportunity bestowed upon us, which will help us prepare significantly for the T20 World Cup and beyond. This historic tour to Nepal, a young cricketing nation slowly finding its pathway in the world of cricket, will excite our passionate fans. Our heartfelt gratitude towards CWI for their support and belief in Nepal cricket and for continuing to help grow the game all over the world. We hope this will ignite more future tours and bilateral cricketing tie-ups between us and other top cricketing nations, as we march forward with great enthusiasm and appreciation".

West Indies are slotted in Group C in the T20 World Cup, along with Afghanistan, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Uganda. There are four groups with five teams each which will play the round-robin stage before the top two teams from each group will advance to the Super Eights, where the teams will be split into two groups of four. The semi-finals and final will end the tournament in June end.

Estwick named Nepal's bowling consultant

In other news, Roddy Estwick has been appointed the bowling consultant of Nepal. Estwick, a former Barbados fast bowler, had worked as assistant coach with the West Indies' senior men's and the Under-19 side previously.

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County Championship 2024 season: Ben Stokes' quest for fitness, England's search for the next Stuart Broad and which teams will contest for the title?

The County Championship is back for 2024 with Ben Stokes set to play a number of games for Durham and a host of seamers looking to fill the void left by Stuart Broad in England's Test team; plus, who can challenge Surrey for the Division One title as the Londoners look for three in a row?

Wednesday 3 April 2024 19:37, UK

The English cricket summer officially gets under way on Friday - yes, hard to believe given the frigid early-April conditions - and so what should we be looking out for in the County Championship?

England are not in action in Test cricket until they face the West Indies on July 10, so there is quite the red-ball run-up to that opening Test at Lord's for players to stake their claim.

Here we take a look at some of the biggest names to keep an eye out for in the early-season exchanges as well as assessing which counties look best-placed for a title push in the top tier and who is gunning for promotion from Division Two.

2024 County Championship

Division One: Durham, Essex, Hampshire, Kent, Lancashire, Nottinghamshire, Somerset, Surrey, Warwickshire, Worcestershire

Division Two: Derbyshire Glamorgan, Gloucestershire, Leicestershire, Middlesex, Northamptonshire, Sussex, Yorkshire

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Stokes' quest for fitness

Durham were the runaway winners of Division Two last season and could prove surprise challengers in their first year back dining at the top table since a 2016 points deduction for financial issues relegated them.

Such reason for optimism is in large part due to the increased availability of England's Test captain Ben Stokes , who this week ruled himself out of playing in the Men's T20 World Cup which will take place in June in the West Indies and USA.

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Having had surgery on a long-standing knee injury over the winter, Stokes said of his self-imposed absence: "I'm working hard and focusing on building my bowling fitness back up to fulfil a full role as an all-rounder in all formats of cricket.

"The recent Test tour of India highlighted how far behind I was from a bowling point of view after my knee surgery and nine months without bowling. I'm looking forward to playing for Durham in the County Championship before the start of our Test summer."

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Stokes certainly will not feature in all eight of Durham's red-ball matches prior to that first of three Tests against the West Indies but he can hopefully gradually build the miles back into his legs in a handful of run-outs.

And with the bat, England's loss is most certainly Durham's gain. His last three first-class appearances for the county came back in 2022 and included among them was a simply devastating innings of 161 off just 88 balls in a win against Worcestershire, a knock that contained a County Championship-record 17 sixes.

County bowling attacks, look out!

County Championship: Week one fixtures (April 3-6)

Division One: Durham vs Hampshire, Kent vs Somerset, Lancashire vs Surrey, Nottinghamshire vs Essex, Warwickshire vs Worcestershire

Division Two: Derbyshire vs Gloucestershire, Middlesex vs Glamorgan, Sussex vs Northamptonshire, Yorkshire vs Leicestershire

Who will fill Broad's sizeable shoes?

Talking of county bowlers, there is an opportunity for the Test cricket hopefuls among them to really stake a claim for an England starting spot over the early months of the season following the legendary Stuart Broad's retirement last year.

James Anderson, and his 700 Test wickets, is still going strong aged 41 - and will no doubt be taking his usual hatful of wickets for Lancashire in helpful early-season conditions - but who will fill the sizeable void of Broad's 604 Test scalps alongside him in leading England's attack?

Mark Wood 's pace will be prioritised, albeit he will be wrapped up in cotton wool ahead of the T20 World Cup, while Ollie Robinson told Sky Sports ahead of the season's start with Sussex: "It's about putting my name forward to take over and take the reins with Jimmy."

Both have had problems staying fit, however, as has Nottinghamshire pace bowler Olly Stone and 2019 World Cup hero Jofra Archer , with his availability this summer still unknown.

Josh Tongue , who impressed with 10 wickets in two Tests last summer - including a maiden Ashes bow at Lord's - is in the early stages of recovery from a pectoral injury and so will not be rushed back for new team Notts, neither will Saqib Mahmood at Lancashire after an injury-plagued two years since making his Test debut in early 2022.

So, could that open the door for the likes of Gus Atkinson (Surrey), Matthew Potts , Brydon Carse (both Durham) and Matt Fisher (Yorkshire) to stake a claim?

The former has looked fiery and fast in his nine ODI and three T20I appearances but is yet to make his Test debut, having gone unused in the spin-friendly conditions of India over England's most recent tour.

Potts, Carse and Fisher could also find themselves in the mix after impressing on the Lions tour of India this winter - Potts, in particular, having taken 20 wickets at an average of 16.95 across the three matches.

Carse, his county team-mate in the north-east, is another who is yet to make his Test debut.

England's spin bowling conundrum

Turning our attention to the spin department, the future for England certainly looked bright given the showings of youngsters Tom Hartley , Shoaib Bashir and, to a slightly lesser extent, Rehan Ahmed in India this winter.

Hartley finished as the second leading wicket taker for the series, with 22 wickets at an average of 36.13, while Bashir, appearing in two fewer Tests, was second only to Hartley from an England perspective, with 17 scalps at 33.35 - each playing in their debut series. Rehan took 11 wickets at 44.00 in his three Tests; their respective ages: 24, 20 and 19.

Given their performances, England head coach Brendon McCullum said post-series it would be "slightly mad" if the strides taken by the fledgling spinners were stymied by a lack of overs early on in the domestic season.

But it is tough to be overly optimistic about their short-term prospects.

Although he heralded his signing as a "game-changer" , left-arm spinner Hartley's path at Lancashire is now blocked by the arrival of Nathan Lyon, who is still available for seven of the county's first nine fixtures, and that is despite Cricket Australia's recent intervention to reduce that figure for workload purposes.

For Somerset, meanwhile, off-spinner Bashir could be confined to a place on the bench once England's No 1 tweaker Jack Leach is back to full fitness for club and country.

Teenage leg-spinner Rehan has a clearer pathway at Leicestershire following the departure of Callum Parkinson to Durham, but he is perhaps the least ready to step up as a frontline bowler in home conditions.

As ever, county cricket's distant relationship with spin could cause headaches.

England gloves up for grabs

As the county cricket season gets under way, there is also sure to be plenty of speculation over the identity of England's Test wicketkeeper prior to the first Test against the West Indies.

Jonny Bairstow held the gloves last summer, with at times questionable results, while his batting form in India was called into question when they were taken off him and handed to Ben Foakes .

Bairstow failed to pass fifty once across the five Tests, averaging just 23.8, while Foakes' impeccable handiwork behind the stumps was undermined with similarly modest returns with the bat and an average of 20.5.

Harry Brook will be available for the opening five matches of Yorkshire's domestic campaign , having withdrawn from England's tour of India and an IPL stint with the Delhi Capitals for personal reasons as he dealt with the death of his grandmother.

His likely return to the England middle order come July at Lord's, and with top-order batting spots otherwise at a premium, means that Foakes versus Bairstow looks likely to be the biggest selection dilemma of the summer.

With Bairstow away on IPL duty for the start of the summer, does that open the door for Foakes to gain the upper-hand with some early-season red-ball runs for county champions Surrey, or might one or two other names throw themselves in the hat?

Durham's Ollie Robinson was wicketkeeper for the England Lions over the winter and plays an ultra-aggressive 'Bazball' style already. The same is true of Foakes' county team-mate Jamie Smith.

James Rew , 20 , has been tipped for great things after a breakout 2023 for Somerset in which he was the County Championship's third-leading scorer with 1,086 runs at an average of 57.15.

Which teams will contest for the title?

Having gone back to back in 2022 and 2023, Surrey , with their seemingly endless squad depth that is the envy of every county side, are surely favourites to make it a hat-trick of County Championship successes?

Possibly aiding their efforts this year too is the fact that their director of cricket, former Surrey and England legend Alec Stewart, is bowing out at the end of the year?

"We'll give it a red-hot go," he told the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast last week. "I know the appetite is there from the players. Is it going to be harder again? Definitely, because every side wants to beat us."

Chief among those teams looking to topple Surrey are last year's runners-up Essex , with whom they have shared six of the past seven red-ball titles.

Warwickshire are the only other team since Middlesex's final-day triumph in 2016 to emerge victorious, back in 2021, and they should find themselves in the mix once more.

And what about perennial bridesmaids Somerset ? 2023 was a rare down year in which they finished seventh but a talented crop of youngsters is emerging in Taunton who will be all the richer for their experiences so far. Is this finally their year?

Another outside bet could be Durham . Promoted only from Division Two last season, but having claimed the crown at a canter - and with Stokes to add into the mix during the early-season sparring - they are well capable of upsetting the status quo.

In Division Two, Yorkshire , no longer burdened by a 48-point penalty, are heavy favourites for promotion back to the more familiar surroundings of the top tier.

Their biggest challengers are likely to be Sussex , having been pipped to the post and into third last season, and Middlesex , looking to bounce straight back from their relegation from the top flight last year.

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